The present disclosure relates to an apparatus that measures the body volume of a person, and in particular, to a body suit and a fluid assembly that discharges fluid into the body suit while the person is wearing the suit to measure the amount of fluid the person displaces in a fixed area.
Body composition is the technical term used to describe the different components that, when taken together, makes up a person's body weight. When analyzing body composition it is often convenient to think of the body as made of two components: fat and non-fat. The non-fat portion is usually called “fat free mass” or “lean body mass”.
The human body is composed of a variety of different tissue types. The so-called ‘lean’ tissues, such as muscle, bone and organs are metabolically active, while adipose, or fat tissue is not. Scientists divide adipose tissue into three different categories: 1. Essential fat, which supports life, and is extremely important to normal bodily function; 2. Storage fat, which protects internal organs and supplies some energy requirements and 3. Non-essential fat, which serves no real purpose and may be detrimental to health
The difference in these tissues is not readily distinguishable by stepping on a scale. A scale simply takes the sum of everything (fat, muscle, water, hair, etc.) and gives an absolute weight measurement. Scales can't determine the lean-to-fat ratio of that weight. A person can be “over-weight” and not “over-fat”. A bodybuilder, for example, may have 8% body fat, yet at two hundred and fifty pounds may be considered “over-weight” by a typical height-weight chart. Therefore, these charts are not a good indication of a person's ideal body weight for optimal health, much less for athletic performance.
The most common body fat test uses the skinfolder caliper, a device that pinches the person's skin, pulling fat away from muscles and bones. Typically, the tester pinches three of four different sites on the body, such as the abdomen, arm, and back. The tester enters the thickness of each pinch into a formula to determine the subcutaneous body fat level.
The tester, however, may not pinch exactly the right spot, or may not pull all the fat away from the muscle. Or the tester may pinch too hard and accidentally pull some of the muscle. The calipers must exert a standard pressure and measure thickness to very small levels. As such, tests can vary greatly from tester to tester. Also, research shows that certain formulas are more accurate for certain ethnic groups, age ranges, and fitness levels.
Underwater weighing is an accurate but cumbersome and expensive method of body fat testing. In this method, the person sits on a scale in a tank of warm water, blows the air out of the lungs and bends forward until the person is completely submerged. The person remains submerged for a few seconds while an underwater weight registers on a high precision scale. The result is then entered into a mathematical equation. This test is repeated and the best results are averaged to get an accurate reading of the amount of fat in the person. This costly method however is not efficient for the person due to anxiety, discomfort on being submerged, and pre-test guidelines.
Still further, the Body Mass Index is often used to quantify a person's obesity level. This is simple test relates to a formula of the person's height squared, divided by the person's weight. The result is looked up on a table. Only a person's height and weight are used and no indication of actual lean or fat mass can be determined. As such, this test does not take not body composition information into account, and is simply an average based on population studies.